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Trying New Recipes + Q&A with Nutritionist Maria Dominguez-Courian

Being a busy student and blogger, and living by myself - I find it really hard to find the time and motivation to cook! Recently I have been looking for super easy and healthy meal options for myself and trying out new recipes!

My relative Maria Dominquez-Courian is a nutritionist, and I had recently been introduced to her website and blog. She has some pretty cool recipes on there that I was super excited to try! Today I'm going to share with you the ones that I tried, and what I thought of them. Plus - there's a healthy eating Q+A with Maria at the bottom of the post!

I tested out three recipes from Maria's blog. Each title is linked to the recipe on her website. They were straight forward and easy to make with very little time and effort involved! Not to mention, they were also delicious.

I blended greek yogurt and mango together for the bottom smoothie portion, and then topped it off with sliced strawberries, mango, oats, and some blackberries.

Q+A WITH MARIA:

Mikayla: Tell me about yourself!

Maria: I am a young entrepreneur that combined two of the things I am most passionate about: nutrition & tea.

I was born and raised in Mexico City where I graduated as a clinical nutritionist from one of the most prestigious universities (Universidad Iberoamericana) in 2010. For four years, I studied the biochemistry of nutrition and developed a strong, clinical understanding of the science of food. Following my studies, I completed a one-year internship, rotating in many areas of the hospital. I moved to Canada in 2012 and in January 2016, Vitalia Nutrition was created with the goal to help people detoxify from environmental toxins and to achieve a healthier lifestyle. I am also currently specializing on holistic nutrition at the IHN in Mississauga.

After six years of being a clinical nutritionist, I came up with the idea of giving our body an extra boost to help it function at its best, and what a better way than a freshly boiled cup of tea combined with a healthy meal!

I firmly believe that that we can heal our body trough food and through natural remedies that’s why all the teas at Vitalia Nutrition are 100% natural and have a health benefit added to them.

Mikayla: What is one of your go-to quick and easy healthy meals?

Maria: Quinoa salad! Quinoa is a super food, I just make sure I add some fruit, veggies, nuts or seeds and I am ready to go! My favorite is the Rainbow Quinoa Salad (recipe in TEATOX guide). But, if I am in a hurry and I haven’t gone grocery shopping I usually just add anything I have on the fridge, like tomatoes, lemon, broccoli, cranberries, mango, etc…you can get creative!

Mikayla: Are smoothie bowls actually good for you?

Maria: Smoothie bowls are actually very good for you. They have everything you need to start up your day: carbs, proteins and healthy fats. They usually consist on:

* Fruit & Veggies (optional),

* Coconut water, yogurt, milk or milk alternatives.

* Chia, hemp or flax seeds, oats etc.

Mikayla:What are some of the best ingredients for infused water?

Maria: Water by itself gives you lots of energy and helps your body get rid of toxins! Sometimes we can be dehydrated without even noticing, and that can make us feel weak and tired. The benefit of the infused water is that people that don’t like plain water can add anything they like in it in order to make it taste great.

There are a lot of myths on drinking warm water with lemon or other ingredients to lose weight. That doesn’t really work like that. In order to lose weight you have to switch your habits into healthier ones. You can also start by drinking more water (infused or plain).

Now, if you do want to add an extra benefit to your water, you can add ginger or cayenne pepper. Ginger soothes the digestive system and promotes liver health. Cayenne pepper has lots of antioxidants that help fight free radicals related to inflammation.

Mikayla: What other alternatives would you suggest to get protein into your meal?

Definitely protein from plant sources like: beans, legumes, quinoa, nuts and seeds. Quinoa is actually a complete protein (like meat), which means that it contains all 9 essential amino acids (building blocks of protein) that our body needs in order to function properly. With the rest of the plant sourced proteins you need to have a variety in your diet in order to get all this essential amino acids.

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If you get a chance to try any of her recipes, let me know! I'm sure you will love them as well.